​UNSPORTSmanlike Conduct

TheComeback- Dennis Morgan has been a regular performing the anthem for the team for the past 17 years, but he now takes a back seat to singers like Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum with the Predators working their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Now, Morgan and the Predators are in a bit of a war of words, via public statements on the issue.

“I’m not going to hide my disappointment and I told the Predators that I have been asked the same question over and over and it’s just really getting old,” Morgan said, according to The Tennessean.

“Everywhere I go — obviously at my day job (as a healthcare IT recruiting manager) and at (Bridgestone) arena as well as everywhere else I go to church, grocery stores, on the street, in meetings and in restaurants — people want to know how I feel.”

Morgan claimed he didn’t want to make a big deal about it until after the Predators’ postseason run, which he hopes ends with a Stanley Cup parade through the city. But because of the constant questions he has faced, he felt the need to address the elephant in the room.

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As a big "stick with what got you there" guy, I won't defend the Nashville Predators initial departure down the celebrity route in saluting America. If the Devils ever started a postseason by trotting out anyone other than Arlette prior to Round 1, Home Game 1 I would hope that she'd be as livid as me, so I can understand why Dennis Morgan feels slighted. At the risk of sounding like someone that doesn't want to hear Carrie Underwood belt out her angelic vocals while wearing a hockey jersey, I must say that I - personally - would have considered it a good omen to go with the guy whose entire life inexplicably turns to dog shit when he gets passed over by a talented, smoking hot blonde.

Unfortunately, it's now been proven that blessing Dennis Morgan with the microphone isn't exactly as effective as rubbing a rabbit's foot. When Kevin Fiala netted the overtime winner that officially brought the Blackhawks to the brink of elimination the clock officially struck midnight on his role as the team's good luck charm. If he deeply and truly cared about their success he would realize that. I didn't think that pandering to national broadcasts with famous country singers would be what helped to fuel a pretty dominant drive to potential playoff glory, but now that it has there is no debate as to who the red carpet should be rolled out for.

Honestly, bitching about not being able to sing the National Anthem when your team is on an absolute tear is so un-American that even the Southern conservatives in 'Bridgestone Arena' would agree that it makes Colin Kaepernick look like Abraham Lincoln. I don't care if the guy has to have an awkward conversation with every single person that passes him in the street, because any hockey fan that wouldn't endure a couple months of social anxiety in exchange for a championship celebration - in Nashville, of all places - doesn't even deserve to call themselves such. Dennis Morgan might as well rock a Ryan Kesler jersey, because this little woe-is-me act can be looked at as nothing but a distraction. The Predators have been to more Western Conference Finals without him providing the pregame patriotism than they have with him providing the pregame patriotism, and that alone should make him consider retiring his mic come playoff time.

​P.S. I can't believe an organization that is in the midst of their first legitimate run towards a Stanley Cup actually wasted time in addressing a butt-hurt anthem singer. What a world...

“We have always valued Dennis K. Morgan’s performance of the national anthem at Predators’ home games. Our arrangement with him has always allowed for nationally and internationally renowned musical artists to perform when available to further enhance our game experience while paying respect to our country through their respective awe-inspiring renditions of the national anthem. The reaction from our fans in Bridgestone Arena as well as from around the country to seeing and hearing world class performers such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Vince Gill and his daughters, Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been overwhelmingly positive, bringing national and international exposure to our community while continuing to set our game experience and atmosphere apart from others in professional sports.”